Merry Christmas, Johnny
by sheridan
Summary: John Crichton's sister remembers him at Christmas


1985   
Earth   
Houston, Texas   
***   
  
Annie Crichton sat up in her bed, as wide awake at that   
moment as she had been asleep the moment before. The room   
was cold, she could see snow falling outside her bedroom   
window. There was a noise again, the one that had awakened   
her.   
  
Swinging her freckled legs out from under the covers, Annie's   
toes searched the dark for her yellow Converses, the ones   
without laces. Then she froze. The noise was now outside,   
near the garage. Where was Mad Max? The rotweiler puppy   
Dad had given her on her last birthday should have been   
kicking up a fuss by now.   
  
Meowing softly at her door was Maggie's cat, Princess. Why   
her twin would have chosen a fluffy kitten for a gift instead of   
a real pet, like a dog, was just beyond Annie. But then, no   
one ever believed that they really were twins. Where Annie   
was tiny, with light brown hair and blue eyes, her twin was   
tall and elegant, with dark hair and green eyes, a girl child   
with the promise of great beauty. Not a freckle marred her   
perfection.   
  
Scooping up Princess, Annie began creeping down the hall.   
Her sister's door was closed, as was her parents'. "Shhh,   
kitty. Don't make a peep," she whispered as she slipped down   
the stairs clad only in a huge grey t-shirt, and into the living   
room. It was dominated by a large fir tree, decorated as   
always with homemade ornaments and colored lights. Even   
now, when everyone was asleep, those lights were kept on.   
  
Annie plopped the cat onto the sofa and covered her with a   
blanket; Princess wouldn't move again until morning. Even   
while patting the cat, Annie's head was craning to look out   
the large window toward the garage.   
  
Sure enough, someone was out there, crouching in the snow.   
Rats! Max was growling now, and trying to knock the intruder   
over. How had he escaped from the warm garage? Dad was   
gonna kill her!   
  
Grabbing her blue ski parka and shoving a knit cap onto her   
head, Annie eased the door open, but not before lifting her   
lucky baseball bat and slinging it up over her shoulder. "This is   
no time to get chicken" she told herself and marched out to   
defend her home and her dog.   
  
A little yip of welcome from Max, and the intruder stopped   
playing tug-of-war and turned to grin at his baby sister.   
"Merry Christmas, Birthday Girl," he said softly, with a warning   
glance to the bedroom windows as a reminder to keep her   
voice down.   
  
Not that Annie could get a word out. It had been three   
months since Johnny had left for college. Three months since   
she had seen him last. She took off in a dead run, flinging the   
baseball bat into the the Texas snow. Without stopping or   
even slowing down, the young girl plowed straight at her   
brother, trusting that he would catch her, like always, and   
swing her around till they were both dizzy.   
  
"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, Johnny, you're here!" she finally   
squeaked out, when her balance finally returned.   
  
"Yep, I drove straight through instead of stopping over at   
Aunt Martha's in Oklahoma. She knows, don't worry. Did you   
think I'd miss your birthday? Miss out on giving you twelve   
birthday whacks?" John Crichton Jr. shouldered his duffle bag   
and pushed his baby sister towards the garage.   
  
"Is my room ready?" he asked, knowing full well that Mom   
would have everything in perfect order. They climbed the   
stairs to the big room over the garage that had served as   
John's bedroom and work room after they had moved here two   
years ago. Dad was stationed at the Houston Space Center,   
and Mom taught at a small private college nearby.   
  
"Oh, yea, look at this. Everything looks the same." John   
touched his bed, the desk and even his prized Farrah Fawcett   
bathing suit poster. Max jumped up onto the red comforter,   
turned around twice and laid himself down, wet paws and all.   
"Man, that dog has grown!" John shrugged off his letterman   
jacket from the Naval Academy and sat down on the edge of   
the bed.   
  
"You did too, Johnny. Are those muscles?" teased the child.   
  
Proud that he had made the football team as a freshman, John   
flexed his biceps and wiggled his eyebrows to make Annie   
laugh. It was the greatest sound. "Sure are, Pip-squeak. We   
aren't much of a football team, and I'm not much of a   
quarterback, but hey, it drives the chicks crazy."   
  
Leaning over and pulling a long, slender package from the   
duffle bag, John handed Annie her birthday gift. He had   
always been careful to give each of his sisters two gifts, one   
for their birthday and one for Christmas. Lots of people just   
lumped the two things together, but he thought it was hard   
enough for the girls to have been born on Christmas Eve.   
  
The silver paper slid from the box, and with reverent hands   
Annie lifted a telescope out. There was a stand which John   
quickly set up, and showed her how to focus the lenses.   
  
"You can leave it right here at my window, if you want to,   
Annie. That way you will have a private place to come and   
look at the stars."   
  
Hugging her brother, Annie angled the telescope up to look at   
Saturn. "I can see five rings, Johnny. And the North Star!" It   
was the greatest present she could imagine.   
  
"Someday, little one, you'll be able to look up and and see me.   
I've decided to go into the space program, Annie. I want to   
be like Dad, and go to the moon. Maybe far beyond our moon.   
What do ya think of that?" John's eyes sparkled, his   
excitement contagious. "What do ya think about that?"   
***   
2000   
Erp   
Perth, Australia   
***   
Annie Crichton rolled over in bed, and hugged Mad Max close.   
He was an old dog now. Johnny would have known how old in   
doggie years, but Annie could never remember how to figure it   
out.   
  
It had been "the dream". The same dream that now haunted   
her on her Christmas Eve birthday. She swung her freckled   
legs out from under the covers and used her bare toes to   
search for her worn-out yellow Converses. Her brother's grey   
T-shirt was still her favorite sleep wear, even though the   
original one had worn out years ago. She had pinched a stack   
of them from a box of John's stuff the last time she had gone   
to visit Dad.   
  
All of John's possesions were now stored in boxes in a   
different garage, far from Houston. Dad lived alone now, in   
Deland Florida.   
  
Annie picked up the birthday card from him that had arrived   
this morning. There was a photo enclosed of Maggie and her   
husband Tim. They looked so happy; with the upcoming birth   
of their second son, they should be happy.   
  
Looking at the clock and making some swift calculations,   
Annie decided she could safely call her twin in about two   
hours. It was still night here in Australia, and their birthday   
was over.   
  
Walking to the window, Annie patted her old Telasco scope,   
the one given to her fifteen years ago. John's gift had proven   
to be insightful, leading her to her chosen field - the study of   
black holes, worm holes and other space anomolies.   
  
Pointing it to the skies, Annie searched for and found the   
Southern Cross.   
Star light, star bright,   
The first star I see tonight.   
I wish I may, I wish I might,   
Have the wish I wish tonight.   
  
Closing her eyes, Annie Crichton held her breath and wished   
her wish.   
  
"Merry Christmas, Johnny. I know you are still out there. Merry   
Christmas."   
  
  
  



End file.
